page_title: John Bel Edwards
section_title: Tenure
hierarchical_section_title: John Bel Edwards / Governor of Louisiana (2016–present) / Tenure
caption_attribution_description: English: Gov. John Bel Edwards surveys flooded areas and thanks Louisiana National Guardsmen who have been assisting local agencies around the clock in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, March 12, 2016. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by MSgt. Toby M. Valadie)
context_page_description: John Bel Edwards is an American politician and attorney serving as the 56th governor of Louisiana since 2016. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the Democratic leader of the Louisiana House of Representatives for two terms.
  Edwards was elected to the Louisiana House in 2011. He defeated Republican U.S. Senator David Vitter in the second round of the 2015 election for governor. Edwards won a second term in the 2019 election, becoming the first Democrat to win reelection in Louisiana since Edwin Edwards in 1975. He is a United States Army veteran, having served with the 82nd Airborne Division, reaching the rank of captain.
context_section_description: On his inauguration day, Edwards failed to persuade the majority-Republican Louisiana House to choose a Democrat, Walt Leger III of New Orleans, as the Speaker. On the second ballot, after Republican Cameron Henry, an ally of Senator David Vitter, withdrew from consideration, a second Republican, Taylor Barras of New Iberia, was named Speaker. Since Huey Long, governors had traditionally handpicked the state house speakers. The Barras selection was considered a surprise because he had not even been mentioned as a candidate until the voting started.
  On April 13, 2016, Edwards signed an executive order to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people from harassment or job dismissals. The order prohibits state agencies from discrimination based on either gender identity or sexual orientation. The order allows an exception for religious organizations who claim that compliance would violate their religious beliefs. "We respect our fellow citizens for their beliefs, but we do not discriminate based on our disagreements. I believe in giving every Louisianan the opportunity to be successful and to thrive in our state," Edwards said.
  The governor also rescinded another executive order issued in 2015 by his predecessor, Bobby Jindal, which protected  businesses and nonprofit organizations who oppose same-sex marriage from being legally punished for holding those views. This order had prohibited state agencies from penalizing businesses and individuals who act from a "religious belief that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman."
  In 2016, Edwards enacted Medicaid expansion. By the next year, the number of Louisiana individuals without health insurance was cut in half (11.4%, which was down from 22.7%). According to a study conducted by LSU's E.J. Ourso College of Business, Edwards' expansion of Medicaid made over 500,000 more adults eligible for Medicaid, of whom 327,000 were uninsured.
  Edwards promised early in 2017 that he could work with the incoming Donald Trump administration. He expressed eagerness to work with the Trump Cabinet, particularly on the issues of Medicaid expansion and federal infrastructure projects.
  In January 2017, Edwards traveled to Italy on a personal trip to discuss ways to combat human trafficking. Edwards traveled with sisters of the Hospitaller Sisters of Mercy who established a shelter in Baton Rouge for child victims of human trafficking. Edwards met with Pope Francis during the trip.
  Edwards campaigned on a policy to reduce the prison population in Louisiana. One of his first actions as governor was to commute 22 sentences out of 56 that the state's Board of Pardons had identified for him. Since the end of 2016 and to July 2018, Edwards did not sign a single commutation despite at least 70 cases that the state's Board of Pardons identified for him during the period. In 2018, Edwards signed legislation that shortened the sentences for nonviolent, non-sex-crime offenders who showed good behavior while in prison.
  In May 2018, Edwards, who is anti-abortion, signed a bill into law banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. In May, 2019, he signed an even more restrictive "fetal heartbeat" bill although a similar bill in the 5th Circuit, one with a similar predecessor, was blocked by Judge Carlton Reeves, in the Southern District of Mississippi. In response to backlash from his more progressive supporters, Edwards released a statement in which he said, "As governor, I have been true to my word and my beliefs on this issue. But it is also my sincere belief that being pro-life means more than just being pro-birth." He continued his statement by referencing his attempts to expand investment in education, reform Louisiana's criminal justice system, pass laws that would protect LGBT citizens from discrimination in the workplace, raise the minimum wage, and ensure equal pay between men and women.
  At the end of 2018, Edwards said that his top priority for 2019 was to achieve a $1,000 pay raise for teachers and a $500 raise for school support workers. For the first t
caption: Gov. Edwards meets with Louisiana National Guardsmen in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, March 2016
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